SANFORD — The coordinator of a Seminole County program that works with juvenile criminals is being investigated by a state police standards board in connection with a gun theft last year while he was a Casselberry police officer.

A three-member panel of the state Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Training has ruled there is probable cause to revoke the police certification for Richard J. Maynard, coordinator of the Juvenile Alternative Services Program (JASP). Without certification, a person cannot be a police officer in Florida.

The commission's administrative complaint said there is reason to believe that on June 23, 1985, Maynard took a gun that had been stolen from Crossroad Sports Inc., a Casselberry sporting goods store, said Joe Kendrick, of the state commission. At the time, Maynard was a patrol officer with the Casselberry Police Department.

Police reports show that the store was burglarized that morning by someone who entered through the roof and took 12 to 15 guns. Two juveniles were arrested the next month in Fort Lauderdale for selling the guns and they admitted committing the burglary, police reports show.

Casselberry Police Chief Fred McGowan said theft allegations against Maynard surfaced a short time later. He said no criminal charges have been filed against Maynard.

But a police report on the missing gun, obtained by The Orlando Sentinel, shows that Maynard was threatened with prosecution in connection with the disappearance of a .22-caliber Beretta semi-automatic pistol that had been turned in to police by a woman who found it while walking near the gun shop. Police said the burglars apparently dropped the gun and ammunition while fleeing from the store.

On the day of the burglary, a Casselberry woman said she found a pistol inside a clear plastic bag and two gun boxes lying on the ground near Crossroad Sports. She left them on the ground and told a police dispatcher, the report said.

Maynard was sent to investigate and filled out a report. Maynard reported that the woman, Sara Reynolds, showed him two gun boxes, one of which contained ammunition. There was no mention of a pistol on Maynard's report.

On July 26, Reynolds returned to the police department to ask about the handgun she said she had shown to Maynard. However, police knew nothing about the gun because none had been turned in, the report said.

In a report, Detective Lynn Cambre said Reynolds became upset when his questioning indicated that police had not received a gun. Reynolds refused to sign her written statement and asked not to be involved further. Cambre mentioned on the report that while he was talking with Reynolds, Maynard walked by and saw her.

The next day Maynard turned in a .22-caliber semi-automatic Beretta pistol to police along with a report saying it had been given to him by a man who flagged him down behind a bar earlier that day, the report said.

The serial number on the gun had been removed, but a lab test was able to lift the number and determine that it had been stolen from Crossroad Sports. Police could not find the man, the report said.

Confronted with this evidence during a taped interview with police detectives a week later, Maynard was told that he could be prosecuted for grand theft. He denied having kept the gun and repeated that a man gave it to him behind a bar, the report said.

Maynard, 29, said he resigned Aug. 2, 1985, when McGowan told him to do so or go to jail. He denied taking the gun and said he is unaware of any specifics of the investigation.

Maynard, hired by the department April 18, 1983, said last week the case was trumped up by police who wanted him to leave after a 1984 investigation into his shooting at a fleeing traffic offender.

Maynard was suspended for three weeks in October and early November 1984 after he fired six shots at a fleeing motorcyclist, who was not injured. Maynard said he fired after seeing a flash and hearing what he thought was a gunshot. A police investigation later cleared Maynard, concluding that what he thought was a gunshot actually was the backfiring of the suspect's motorcycle. Kendrick said Casselberry police reported to his agency that Maynard's 1985 departure was ''under adverse conditions'' -- a report that automatically requires a probable-cause inquiry.

Maynard was hired in September to be coordinator of JASP, a program in Sanford designed to divert juveniles from formal court proceedings. Some law enforcement officials have questioned the credibility of the program, noting the standards board's investigation and the fact that JASP oversees penalities for youths who commit crimes.

Seminole County judicial administrative assistant Lois Walker, who oversees JASP and hired Maynard, said she was unaware of the state board's investigation. When checking Maynard's background for hiring, Casselberry police did not reveal any information about theft allegations, Walker said, adding that Maynard later told her about them.

Walker said Maynard has been ''an outstanding employee'' and said the allegations would not affect his job status.

The standards and training board has sent an administrative complaint to Maynard, giving him three options: seeking a formal hearing to dispute the findings; seeking an informal hearing where the facts are not disputed but Maynard can fight to keep his certification; or voluntarily relinquishing his certification, Kendrick said.

Maynard said he has sent a letter to the board denying the accusation.